Today's apparel for sports, fashion and many other markets are often constructed with stretchable and/or elastic materials to enhance values such as comfort, performance and aesthetics. The stretchable and/or elastic materials may comprise yarns containing elastomeric additives and knit or woven textiles constructed to provide a mechanical elasticity.
It is often desirable to embellish apparel having stretchable and/or elastic properties with a textile appliqué, such as a woven or non-woven appliqué. In providing a functional equilibrium, the textile appliqué should have a similar degree of stretchable and/or elastic properties compared to the apparel (article to be decorated) textile. Manufacturers have not been able to embellish elastic apparel with textile appliqués due to an inability to manufacture an appliqué that is elastic.
Producing stretchable and elastic textile appliqués has had limited success since the adhesive layer binding the textile applique to the elastic article to be decorated material tends to split and/or crack when stressed, such as when stretching and/or bending the article to be decorated material and/or textile applique. One region, in which the splits and cracks form, is the adhesive layer binding the appliqué to the stretchable article to be decorated. Not only do the splits and cracks detract from the artist quality of design, the splits and cracks degrade both the aesthetic and functional qualities of the design. The splits and cracks may result in a detachment of the textile appliqué from the adhesive layer and/or the stretchable article to be decorated. Furthermore, the stressing of the adhesive layer may cause the adhesive layer to fail to return to its original shape and/or size (“recover”) after the stress causing force is removed. The failure of the adhesive layer to return to its original shape and/or size may not only distort the textile appliqué, it may also distort the article to be decorated to which the textile design is attached. The lack of recovery and/or cracks and splits may cause the textile appliqué to separate and/or detach from the article to be decorated material the textile appliqué is adhered to.